Over a year since their last contest, which saw Wilder hurt, wobbled and beaten to the punch by Ortiz before rallying and pulling out a stoppage win in the 10th round. Saturday saw the two men meet again at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, which turned out to be as shocking as fight as the previous.
Ortiz, the intimidating 40 year old Cuban appeared to be pulling out a career best performance, using his southpaw stance and slick combination punching to totally outsmart Wilder for the first 6 rounds.
A flatfooted, bemused wilder barely threw a punch with any intent early in the fight and didn’t appear to be warming into the fight at all, his lacking in some areas is still a surprise to most people considering the heights hes reached in the sport.
Until the 7th round, when he reminded sceptics at home and at ringside why hes been the WBC champion for 5 years, and why he has 41 stoppages in 43 fights. A perfect right hand that appeared to come from nowhere, landed on the forehead of Ortiz and immediately crushed him onto the canvas, sweat flying into the air that on pundit described as looking like ‘Ortiz’s soul temporarily leaving his body’ a fitting metaphor for the absolutely thunderous shot Wilder delivered, ending the fight when Ortiz failed to meet the count.
At the top of the stoppage, Wilder was down on all scorecards, with none of the judges having him winning more than 2 rounds. Now, a buzz has begun again around the Americans rematch with Tyson Fury, or a potential clash with the winner of Joshua | Ruiz. Whoever is next for Wilder knows the score, you’re not safe until you hear that final bell.